Bhubaneswar: In recognition of the sacrifice and courage of those who save the lives of others by donating their organs, their last rites will be performed with full state honours, announced Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday. The Chief Minister expressed the hope that this will create widespread awareness in the field of organ donation and inspire society to save others’ lives by donating organs.
Organ donation is a great gift. In cases of brain death, relatives play a vital role in saving the lives of others by making the brave decision to allow organ donation.
The state government established the State Organ & Tissues Transplant Organization (SOTTO) in 2019 to facilitate the process of organ transplantation.
To encourage organ donation, the Odisha government has started ‘Suraj Puraskar’ in 2020.
It is worth noting that this award has been launched in the name of Suraj from Bhanjanagar area of Ganjam district. Suraj was seriously injured in a road accident and became brain dead. His family decided to donate vital organs from Suraj’s body. These vital organs helped save the lives of six people.
Rs 5 lakh is being provided from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the relatives of the organ donors. Along with this, the Chief Minister is also honouring the next of kin of organ donors on World Organ Donation Day on August 13th every year.
